Richmond run clubs could be the new dating app

Goodbye, dating apps. Hello, Richmond run clubs.

The big picture: As running dominates other sports across fitness trackers nationwide, single people are joining running clubs to find dates .

• It speaks to an increasingly shifting dating landscape that has Gen Z and millennials opting for in-person connection instead of the dating app trenches.
• Running is also a stress reliever and a way to make friends during a loneliness crisis and remote work era .

What they're saying: " I would jokingly say that running is legitimately the sixth love language," says Chris Mason, a marathon training coach and social media coordinator for Richmond Road Runners Club, which helps sponsor local races and has more than 2,500 members.

Zoom in: Richmond began seeing a boom in running clubs in late 2022 and early 2023, Mason tells Axios.

• There are nearly 40 running groups listed on "Running RVA," a website that keeps a running list (no pun intended) of groups to join in the Richmond area.
• More exist and continue to pop up — and they're getting larger, Mason adds.

Plus, some end their runs at breweries or bars, which helps the social and dating hot spot part.

• Strava, which Mason calls "the social media app for running," also added a chat feature last December that lets you message other runners on the app.
• Now it's another way of sliding into the DMs of someone you know you have something in common with, whether it be romantically or as friends.

Fun fact: 84% of Strava users tell the fitness tracker company that social connection is their No. 1 reason for exercising.

Yes, but: Some people also just want to run, and that's OK, too.

Among Richmond's growing list, which includes options for runners of all levels:

• WeOffTheCouch has multiple community runs per week.
• Black Girls RUN!, which started over a decade ago and has 3,600 members on Facebook .
• RVA Stroller Runners, which you guessed it, is for parents who run with their baby strollers.
• Effect Run Club, "a run club built on community, not pace," per their Insta .
• Capital Run Club, whose Insta says they run at "Party Pace."

Sabrina's thought bubble: I don't know what the dating success rate is with these run clubs, but at least if a date goes terribly, it'd probably be perfectly acceptable to literally sprint away.

Go deeper: Where to get a workout in Richmond .